– Adhya Joshi The Supreme Court ruled out the demand for a re-test of the NEET UG 2024 on Tuesday on the grounds of insufficient evidence of a systemic failure of the examination. Moreover, IIT-Delhi confirmed option 4 as the right answer to the controversial Physics question. This entails two primary consequences, first, the marks obtained by the candidates in the NEET-UG exam conducted on May 5 will be retained, however, the marks and in turn, the corresponding ranks would be reshuffled after the necessary changes in the result. The Indian Express spoke to some of the candidates who appeared for NEET UG 2024 to know how the decision will impact them. “We expected filtration (of the wrongdoers) if not a retest,” says a student when asked about her views on judgment. Another student with a score of 608 said, “In the last two years, I had worked quite hard but ended up not getting what I think I deserved. I think no re-test is an injustice to many." The girl, who wanted to maintain anonymity, shared concerns with many others that some malpractices during the NEET examination may have gone undetected. As the NEET paper leak has been admitted by both the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the Supreme Court, some students raised concerns of improper filtration of malpractice. While the Court stated that the CBI investigation will continue and action will be taken corresponding to any new findings, students fear that any malpractice that has potentially gone undetected so far is still a compromise of the fairness of there NEET result. While the nervousness around further revelation persists, students are also worried about the impact of the markings of the ambiguous question on there result. Another student who obtained 608 marks in NEET results declared on June 4, who wished to remain unnamed told The Indian Express: “I will lose 5 marks, which means a total of 603. This means my rank will fall and I might not get admission to a good college.” For an exam that forms the basis of admission into every medical college across the country, a change of every one mark, entails a change of multiple ranks. Some students on the other hand are relieved over the said verdict. Suhani, another student who scored 550 marks, said that in there preparation of two or more years, students ‘build a certain momentum’. “To expect us to give the exam again after a break of two months would be unfair,” she said adding that many students are unsure of the NEET exam being free of malpractice provided the cases that have come forth in states like Bihar. “No one knows how many students have scored by cheating,” said a student outside a reputed coaching centre in Delhi. However, students like Suhani who are satisfied with their result are relieved that they would not have to reappear for the test and risk their present score to another. With regard to the marking of the ambiguous question, Suhani said: “NTA took too long to decide. Had the instructions on the right option been clearer, students would’ve been mentally prepared amidst the chaos and uncertainty around the exam." The impact of the verdict on the national level exam affects candidates across the country. Aashi Jain from Madhya Pradesh, with a score of 685 said, “I and mostly all my peers were solemn about no re-test because it’s very difficult to study again after not studying at all for more than a month. However, after the whole chaos, we were advised by our teachers to start studying again in mid-June." When asked about the fairness of the exam conducted she said, “In our case there was no misconduct at all at the center except the invigilator was wasting some of our time but that’s normal as told by our teachers. Students who have actually been working hard since the last 2-3 years shouldn’t be giving an exam again." Students community are divided on their stand on the Supreme Court verdict. Most students are relieved that at least the admission and counselling for medical colleges would begin shortly, without delaying the academic calendar any further. NTA is likely to declare the final results this week with the necessary changes in some time, and the students are now concerned for their updated score and its impact on their rank.
